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View Poll Results: Should we send help to the Philippines

Voters

35. You may not vote on this poll

Yes, we should send help at the expense of more money to our dept

2468.57%

No, we should be trying to lower the dept instead

720.00%

Maybe, i like the idea of helping, but we should find an alternate means if here is one

Re: Send help to the Philippines ?

Originally Posted by ttwtt78640

No, I choose to question why this is possible without any change in the law.

How much is allocated (if any) for giving away to foreign nations "just in case" things happen and what happens if no such case comes up? All I ask is under what legal budget authority can the federal gov't spend money? I am sure that "every dime" is carefully allocated on paper, so to pay X you must not pay Y.

Re: Send help to the Philippines ?

Originally Posted by JJB3333

READ BEFORE VOTING!!!!!

Ok so i'm all for helping people out, but the fact that we are sending 20 million dollars to help them got me thinking. Where was the money coming from? Now I could only think of two places. One, taxes. 2. We're borrowing it. Now if everything was OK in America I would say go for it, they need it. BUT EVERYTHING IS NOT ALRIGHT PEOPLE! We are 17 billion dollars in dept. Every tax payer in America currently would have to pay 149 thousand dollars to take us out of dept nationally on top of what individual owe, and the government keeps spending! We shouldn't be trying to stabilize other economy's, we should be trying to stabilize our own, scrapping together every penny we can get to start shoving that number back! And when we think "Oh penny's don't matter the dept increase by hundreds of dollars a second," well consider that every penny we shove that dept back, that's another penny our kids and grand kids and great grand kids wont have to pay. And people, 20 million dollars is not a couple of penny's. When you realize that about 48 cents out of the dollar is borrowed, we just shoved our dept up about 9.6 million dollars. Is a recovering country going to help us pay that back? I don't think so. I highly doubt it in any case. In case your wondering if any of these numbers are crap, here's a real time dept clock to back me up. So should we send it? Sorry but i say no

Didn't bother to read your post. We should send money to the Philippines for several reasons. 1) The people in this country, no matter what your political background, are well intentioned people and like to help others in need. 2) The Philippines is one of the most economically depressed countries in the world, and is simply incapable of responding effectively to this kind of disaster 3) We have a long history with the Philippines, sometimes good sometimes bad, and helping is an extension of that bond (largest American cemetery outside of America is in Manila), 4) The location of the Philippines is strategic and our relations are closer now than in a while due to China's aggression in the South China Sea so anything that enhances that friendship is important.

Re: Send help to the Philippines ?

Originally Posted by ttwtt78640

The better question is where did it not go instead. Every dime (Obama loves to talk about spending dimes) wether taxed or borrowed that is spent must be appropriated by congress for a stated purpose. That $20 million had to be taken from somewhere else to be spent - since I do not recall a bill becoming law to aid the Philippines.

The delivery of food aid, for instance, would look different, channeled more effectively and swiftly into three programs, including a planned $75 million emergency food assistance fund, all managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The proposed transition, is being backed by large international humanitarian groups like CARE and Oxfam International.

Funding for USAID would rise slightly next year under the proposal, to $1.57 billion, from $1.52 billion in 2012 and $1.53 billion in the sequestered 2013 budget, while military operations, in form of overseas contingency operations, would be slashed by $184 million, down to $71 million.

Re: Send help to the Philippines ?

Originally Posted by JJB3333

READ BEFORE VOTING!!!!!

Ok so i'm all for helping people out, but the fact that we are sending 20 million dollars to help them got me thinking. Where was the money coming from? Now I could only think of two places. One, taxes. 2. We're borrowing it. Now if everything was OK in America I would say go for it, they need it. BUT EVERYTHING IS NOT ALRIGHT PEOPLE! We are 17 billion dollars in dept. Every tax payer in America currently would have to pay 149 thousand dollars to take us out of dept nationally on top of what individual owe, and the government keeps spending! We shouldn't be trying to stabilize other economy's, we should be trying to stabilize our own, scrapping together every penny we can get to start shoving that number back! And when we think "Oh penny's don't matter the dept increase by hundreds of dollars a second," well consider that every penny we shove that dept back, that's another penny our kids and grand kids and great grand kids wont have to pay. And people, 20 million dollars is not a couple of penny's. When you realize that about 48 cents out of the dollar is borrowed, we just shoved our dept up about 9.6 million dollars. Is a recovering country going to help us pay that back? I don't think so. I highly doubt it in any case. In case your wondering if any of these numbers are crap, here's a real time dept clock to back me up. So should we send it? Sorry but i say no

People are hypocrites, they would have voted very differently in your poll if the money would have to come out directly out of their pockets, so they could not even scroll down to your 3rd choice, because they are sure that someone else is paying that tax money. stupidity for which they as a society themselves will pay.

Re: Send help to the Philippines ?

I would say yes, but then again I also think it should be up to us citizens to send personal aid and physically go on aid trips to also help out the Philippines. We shouldn't depend on our government for philanthropy.

When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser. -Socrates

Re: Send help to the Philippines ?

LBFM's, now I hadn't heard that in quite a long, long time. You my friend have either been stationed in the Phillipines or on the mainland of SEA or Southeast Asia. I last heard LBFM's in Laos.

This Reform Party member thinks it is high past time that we start electing Americans to congress and the presidency who put America first and their political party further down the line. But for way too long we have been electing Republicans and Democrats who happen to be Americans instead of Americans who happen to be Republicans and Democrats.

Re: Send help to the Philippines ?

Originally Posted by Sherman123

The amount spent on humanitarian operations like this are negligible compared to annual spending let alone our deficit and debt. It is in the interests of the United States to maintain a positive influence in the world, as well as being a frank part of our common humanity. Provincialism is the road to turmoil.

Positive influence... you mean like us policing half of the world and just making people who hate us hate us more instead of trying to make allies?